--- title: "Nussbaum: Unions are critical safeguards to democracy" description: The America’s Work Force Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. Karen Nussbaum from The Nation Magazine joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/AWF-blog-image-template_nationblue.jpg --- Season 3, Episode 162 # Nussbaum: Unions are critical safeguards to democracy [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) August 18, 2022 [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [The Nation](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/the-nation) ![The-Nation-Logo-Square@2x](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/The-Nation-Logo-Square@2x.png?width=801&name=The-Nation-Logo-Square@2x.png)   Guest Name: --- Karen Nussbaum Guest Website: --- [www.thenation.com](https://www.thenation.com/) Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/TheNationMagazine) [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/thenation) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/thenation) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-nation) Supportive Documents: --- [The Nation Magazine](https://www.thenation.com/) contributor Karen Nussbaum joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed her recent article, “[Unions Protect Democracy. How Do We Protect Unions?](https://www.thenation.com/article/world/unions-protect-democracy-how-do-we-protect-unions/)” Nussbaum is the Founding Director and board member of Working America, which unites working people who do not have a union on the job. Her article surveyed 20 global labor leaders on the myriad of ways the right is threatening organizing efforts, which she claims poses threats to democracies around the world. Nussbaum discussed the various ways democracy is under attack around the globe and in the U.S. and explained why unions need protection. Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics. --- America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues. America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) #### [AFL-CIO's Fred Redmond on the Convention, AI and America at 250](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/afl-cios-fred-redmond-on-the-convention-ai-and-america-at-250) : July 3, 2026 # AFL-CIO's Fred Redmond on the Convention, AI and America at 250 Fred Redmond, Secretary-Treasurer of the [AFL-CIO](https://awf.labortools.com/), joined the [America's Work Force...](https://awf.labortools.com/) [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/afl-cios-fred-redmond-on-the-convention-ai-and-america-at-250) #### [C/COBCTC's Dorsey Hager on Drones, Data Centers and Growth](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/c/cobctcs-dorsey-hager-on-drones-data-centers-and-growth) : July 2, 2026 # Dorsey Hager on Drones, Data Centers and Central Ohio's Building Boom Dorsey Hager, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the [Columbus/Central Ohio...](https://columbusconstruction.org/) [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/c/cobctcs-dorsey-hager-on-drones-data-centers-and-growth) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "awfblog", "url" : "https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog" }, "dateModified" : "2022-08-18T19:33:19.258Z", "datePublished" : "2022-08-18T19:33:19.000Z", "headline" : "Nussbaum: Unions are critical safeguards to democracy", "image" : [ "https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/AWF-blog-image-template_nationblue.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://awf.labortools.com/listen/nussbaum-unions-are-critical-safeguards-to-democracy", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/labor-tools-logo-white.png" }, "name" : "BMA Media" } } ```